The knights of hazard and devotees of chance, who live in and by the
rattle of the box, little know, or care, perhaps, to whom they are
indebted for the invention of their favourite cube. They will solace
themselves, no doubt, on being told that they are pursuing a diversion
of the highest antiquity, and which has been handed down through all
civilized as well as barbarous nations to our own times.
The term 'cube,' which is the figure of a die, comes originally from the
Arabic word 'ca'b,' or 'ca'be,' whence the Greeks derived their cubos,
and cubeia, which is used to signify any solid figure perfectly square
every way--such as the geometrical cube, the die used in play, and the
temple at Mecca, which is of the same figure. The Persic name for
'die' is 'dad,' and from this word is derived the name of the thing in
Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, namely, dado. In the old French it is
det, in the plural dets; in modern French de and dez, whence our English
name 'die,' and its plural 'dies,' or 'dice.'
Plato tells us that dice and gaming originated with a certain demon,
whom he calls Theuth, which seems very much like the original patronymic
of our Teutonic races, always famous for their gambling propensity.
The Greeks generally, however, ascribed the invention of dice to one of
their race, named Palamedes, a sort of universal genius, who hit upon
many other contrivances, among the rest, weights and measures. But this
worthy lived in the times of the Trojan war, and yet Homer makes
no mention of dice--the astragaloi named by the poet being merely
knuckle-bones. Dice, however, are mentioned by Aristophanes in his
comedies, and so it seems that the invention must be placed between the
times of the two poets, that is, about 2300 years ago. At any rate the
cube or die has been in use as an instrument of play, at least, during
that period of time.
The great antiquity, therefore, of the die as an instrument of pastime
is unquestionable, and the general reason assigned for its invention
was the amusement and relaxation of the mind from the pressure of
difficulties, or from the fatigues and toils of protracted war. Indeed,
one conjecture is, that gaming was invented by the Lydians when
under the pressure of a great famine; to divert themselves from their
sufferings they contrived dice, balls, tables, &c. This seems, however,
rather a bad joke.
The afflicted Job asks--'Can a man fill his belly with the east wind?'
And we can imagine that plenty of tobacco to smoke and 'chaw' would
mitigate the pangs of starvation to an army in the field, as has been
seriously suggested; but you might just as well present a soldier with
a stone instead of bread, as invite him to amuse himself with dice, or
anything else, to assuage the pangs of hunger.
Be that as it may, time soon matured this instrument of recreation into
an engine of destruction; and the intended palliative of care and labour
has proved the fostering nurse of innumerable evils. This diminutive
cube has usurped a tyranny over mankind for more than two thousand
years, and continues at this day to rule the world with despotic
sway--levelling all distinctions of fortune in an instant by the fiat of
its single turn.
The use of dice was probably brought into this island by the Romans,
if not before known; it became more frequent in the times of our Saxon
ancestry, and has prevailed with almost unimpaired vigour from those
days to our own.
The Astragalos of the Greeks and Talus of the Romans were, as before
stated, nothing but the knuckle-bones of sheep and goats, numbered, and
used for gaming, being tossed up in the air and caught on the back of
the hand. Two persons played together at this game, using four
bones, which they threw up into the air or emptied out of a dice-box
(fritillus), observing the numbers of the opposite sides. The numbers
on the four sides of the four bones admitted of thirty-five different
combinations. The lowest throw of all was four aces; but the value of
the throw was not in all cases the sum of the four numbers turned up.
The highest in value was that called Venus, in which the numbers cast
up were all different; the sum of them being only fourteen. It was by
obtaining this throw, hence called basilicus, that 'the King of the
Feast' was appointed by the Romans. Certain other throws were called
by particular names, taken from the gods, heroes, kings, courtesans,
animals; altogether there were sixty-four such names. Thus, the throw
consisting of two aces and two treys, making eight, was denominated
Stesichorus. When the object was simply to throw the highest number,
the game was called pleistobolinda, a Greek word of that meaning. When a
person threw the tali, he often invoked either a god or his mistress.
Dice were also made of ivory, bone, or some close-grained wood,
especially privet ligustris tesseris utilissima, (Plin. H. N.). They were
numbered as at present.
Arsacides, King of the Parthians, presented Demetrius Nicator, among
other presents, with golden dice--it is said, in contempt for his
frivolous propensity to play--in exprobationem puerilis levitatis.'(58)
(58) Justini Hist., lib. xxxviii. 9. 9.
Dice are also mentioned in the New Testament, where occurs the word
cubeia (Eph. iv. 14), ('the only word for "gambling" used in the
Bible'), a word in very common use, among Paul's kith and kin, for
'cube,' 'dice,' 'dicery,' and it occurs frequently in the Talmud and
Midrash. The Mishna declares unfit either as 'judge or witness,' 'a
cubea-player, a usurer, a pigeon-flier (betting-man), a vendor
of illegal (seventh-year) produce, and a slave.' A mitigating
clause--proposed by one of the weightiest legal authorities, to the
effect that the gambler and his kin should only be disqualified 'if they
have but that one profession'--is distinctly negatived by the majority,
and the rule remains absolute. The classical word for the gambler
or dice-player, cubeutes, appears aramaized in the same sources into
something like kubiustis, as the following curious instances may show:
When the Angel, after having wrestled with Jacob all night, asks him to
let him go, 'for the dawn has risen' (A. V., 'the day breaketh'), Jacob
is made to reply to him, 'Art thou, then, a thief or a kubiustis, that
thou art afraid of the day?' To which the Angel replies, 'No, I am not;
but it is my turn to-day, and for the first time, to sing the Angelic
Hymn of Praise in Heaven: let me go.' In another Tadmudical passage an
early biblical critic is discussing certain arithmetical difficulties
in the Pentateuch. Thus he finds the number of Levites (in Numbers) to
differ, when summed up from the single items, from that given in
the total. Worse than that, he finds that all the gold and silver
contributed to the sanctuary is not accounted for, and, clinching his
argument, he cries, 'Is, then, your master Moses a thief or a kubiustis?
Or could he not make up his accounts properly?' The critic is then
informed of a certain difference between 'sacred' and other coins; and
he further gets a lesson in the matter of Levites and Firstborn, which
silences him. Again, the Talmud decides that, if a man have bought a
slave who turns out to be a thief or a kubiustis,--which has here been
erroneously explained to mean a 'manstealer,'--he has no redress. He
must keep him, as he bought him, or send him away; for he has bought him
with all his vices.
Regarding the translation 'sleight' in the A.V., this seems a correct
enough rendering of the term as far as the SENSE of the passage
goes, and comes very near the many ancient translations--'nequitia,'
'versutia,' 'inanis labor,' 'vana et inepta (?) subtilitas,' &c., of the
Fathers. Luther has 'Schalkheit,'--a word the meaning of which at
his time differed considerably from our acceptation of the term. The
Thesaurus takes Paul's cubeia (s.v.) more literally, to mean 'in alea
hominum, i. e., in certis illis casibus quibus jactantur homines.'(59)
(59) E. Deutseh in the Athenaeum of Sept. 28, 1867.
The ancient tali, marked and thrown as above described, were also used
in DIVINATION, just as dice are at the present day; and doubtless the
interpretations were the same among the ancients--for all superstitions
are handed down from generation to generation with wondrous fidelity.
The procedure is curious enough, termed 'the art of telling fortunes by
dice.'
Three dice are taken and well shaken in the box with the left hand, and
then cast out on a board or table on which a circle is previously
drawn with chalk; and the following are the supposed predictions of the
throws:--
Three, a pleasing surprise; four, a disagreeable one; five, a stranger
who will prove a friend; six, loss of property; seven, undeserved
scandal; eight, merited reproach; nine, a wedding; ten, a christening,
at which some important event will occur; eleven, a death that concerns
you; twelve, a letter speedily; thirteen, tears and sighs; fourteen,
beware that you are not drawn into some trouble or plot by a secret
enemy; fifteen, immediate prosperity and happiness; sixteen, a pleasant
journey; seventeen, you will either be on the water, or have dealings
with those belonging to it, to your advantage; eighteen, a great profit,
rise in life, or some desirable good will happen almost immediately, for
the answers to the dice are said to be fulfilled within nine days. To
throw the same number twice at one trial shows news from abroad, be the
number what it may. If the dice roll over the circle, the number thrown
goes for nothing, but the occurrence shows sharp words impending; and if
they fall on the floor it is blows. In throwing the dice if one remain
on the top of the other, 'it is a present of which you must take care,'
namely, 'a little stranger' at hand.
Two singular facts throw light on the kind of dice used some 100 and 150
years ago. In an old cribbage card-box, curiously ornamented, supposed
to have been made by an amateur in the reign of Queen Anne, and now
in my possession, I found a die with one end fashioned to a point,
evidently for the purpose of spinning--similar to the modern teetotum.
With the same lot at the sale where it was bought, was a pack of cards
made of ivory, about an inch and a half in length and one inch in
width--in other respects exactly like the cards of the period.
Again, it is stated that in taking up the floors of the Middle Temple
Hall, about the year 1764, nearly 100 pairs of dice were found, which
had dropped, on different occasions, through the chinks or joints of the
boards. They were very small, at least one-third less that those now
in use. Certainly the benchers of those times did not keep the floor of
their magnificent hall in a very decent condition.
A curious fact relating to dice may here be pointed out. Each of the six
sides of a die is so dotted or numbered that the top and bottom of every
die (taken together) make 7; for if the top or uppermost side is 5,
the bottom or opposite side will be 2; and the same holds through every
face; therefore, let the number of dice be what it may, their top
and bottom faces, added together, must be equal to the number of dice
multiplied by 7. In throwing three dice, if 2, 3, and 4 are thrown,
making 9, their corresponding bottom faces will be 5, 4, and 3, making
12, which together are 21--equal to the three dice multiplied by 7.
CARDS.
The origin of cards is as doubtful as that of dice. All that we know for
certain is that they were first used in the East. Some think that the
figures at first used on them were of moral import: the Hindoo and
Chinese cards are certainly emblematic in a very high degree; the former
illustrate the ten avatars, or incarnations of the deity Vishnu; and
the so-called 'paper-tickets' of the Chinese typify the stars, the human
virtues, and, indeed, every variety of subject. Sir William Jones was
convinced that the Hindoo game of Chaturaji--that is, 'the Four Rajahs
or Kings'--a species of highly-complicated chess--was the first germ
of that parti-coloured pasteboard, which has been the ruin of so many
modern fortunes. A pack of Hindoostani cards, in the possession of the
Royal Asiatic Society, and presented to Captain Cromline Smith in 1815,
by a high caste Brahman, was declared by the donor to be actually 1000
years old: 'Nor,' said the Brahman, 'can any of us now play at them,
for they are not like our modern cards at all.' Neither, indeed, do they
bear any remarkable resemblance to our own--the pack consisting of no
less than eight sorts of divers colours, the kings being mounted upon
elephants, and viziers, or second honours, upon horses, tigers, and
bulls. Moreover, there are other marks distinguishing the respective
value of the common cards, which would puzzle our club-quidnuncs not a
little--such as 'a pine-apple in a shallow cup,' and a something like a
parasol without a handle, and with two broken ribs sticking through the
top. The Chinese cards have the advantage over those of Hindoostan by
being oblong instead of circular.
It was not before the end of the 14th century that cards became known in
Europe; and it is a curious fact that the French clergy took greatly
to card-playing about that time--their favourite game being the rather
ungenteel 'All Fours,' as now reputed; for they were specially forbidden
that pastime by the Synod of Langres in 1404.
The ancient cards of both Spain and France, particularly the
'court-cards,' exhibit strong marks of the age of chivalry; but here
we may observe that the word is written by some ancient writers,
'coate-cards,' evidently signifying no more than figures in particular
dresses. The giving pre-eminence or victory to a certain suit, by the
name of 'trump,' which is only a corruption of the word 'triumph,' is
a strong trait of the martial ideas of the inventors of these games. So
that, if the Chinese started the idea, it seems clear that the French
and Spanish improved upon it and gave it a plain significance; and there
is no reason to doubt that cards were actually employed to amuse Charles
VI. in his melancholy and dejection.
The four suits of cards are supposed to represent the four estates of
a kingdom:--1. The nobility and gentry; 2. The ecclesiastics or
priesthood; 3. The citizens or commercial men; 4. The peasantry or
Husbandmen. The nobility are represented in the old Spanish cards by
the espada, or sword, corrupted by us into 'spades,'--by the French with
piques, 'pikes or spears.' The ecclesiastical order is pointed out by
copas, or sacramental cups, which are painted in one of the suits of old
Spanish cards, and by coeurs, or 'hearts,' on French cards, as in
our own--thereby signifying choir-men, gens de choeur, or
ecclesiastics--from choeur de l'eglise, 'the choir of the church,' that
being esteemed the most important part or the HEART of the church.
The Spaniards depicted their citizens or commercial men under dineros,
a small coin, an emblem very well adapted to the productive classes; the
French by carreaux, squares or lozenges--importing, perhaps, unity
of interest, equality of condition, regularity of manners, and the
indispensable duty of this class of men to deal with one another 'on the
square.' The Spaniards made bastos, or knotty clubs, the emblem of the
'bold peasantry,' taken probably from the custom that the plebeians
were permitted to challenge or fight each other with sticks and
quarter-staves only, but not with the sword, or any arms carried by a
gentleman; while the French peasantry were pointed out under the ideas
of husbandry, namely, by the trefles, trefoil or clover-grass. So much
for the SUITS.
With regard to the depicted figures of cards, each nation likewise
followed its own inventions, though grounded in both on those ideas of
chivalry which then strongly prevailed. The Spanish cards were made to
carry the insignia and accoutrements of the King of Spain, the ace of
deneros being emblazoned with the royal arms, supported by an eagle. The
French ornamented their cards with fleurs de lis, their royal emblem.
The Spanish kings, in conformity to the martial spirit of the times
when cards were introduced, were all mounted on horseback, as befitted
generals and commanders-in-chief; but their next in command (among
the cards) was el caballo, the knight-errant on horseback--for the old
Spanish cards had no queens; and the third in order was the soto, or
attendant, that is, the esquire, or armour-bearer of the knight--all
which was exactly conformable to those ideas of chivalry which ruled the
age. It is said that David (king of spades), tormented by a rebellious
son, is the emblem of Charles VII., menaced by his son (Louis XI.), and
that Argine (queen of clubs) is the anagram of Regina, and the emblem
of Marie d'Anjou, the wife of that prince; that Pallas (queen of spades)
represents Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans; that Rachel (queen of
diamonds) is Agnes Sorel; lastly, that Judith (queen of hearts) is the
Queen Isabeau. The French call the queens at cards dames.
The four knaves (called in French, valets or varlets) are four valiant
captains--Ogier and Lancelot, the companions of Charlemagne, Hector de
Gallard, and Lahire, the generals of Charles VII. The remainder of the
pack equally presents a sort of martial allegory; the heart is bravery;
the spade (espad, 'sword') and the diamond (carreau, that is, a square
or shield) are the arms of war; the club (in French trefle, 'trefoil')
is the emblem of provisions; and the ace (in French as, from the Latin
aes, 'coin') is the emblem of money--the sinews of war.
In accordance with this allegorical meaning, the function of the ace
is most significant. It leads captive every other card, queen and king
included--thus indicating the omnipotence of gold or mammon!
'To the mighty god of this nether world--To the spirit that roams with
banner unfurl'd O'er the Earth and the rolling Sea--And hath conquer'd
all to his thraldom Where his eye hath glanced or his footstep sped--Who
hath power alike o'er the living and dead--Mammon!(59) I sing to thee!
(59) Steinmetz Ode to Mammon.
Some say that the four kings represent those famous champions of
antiquity--David, Alexander, Julius Caesar, and Charlemagne; and that
the four queens, Argine, Pallas, Esther, and Judith, are the respective
symbols of majesty, wisdom, piety, and fortitude; and there can be no
doubt, if you look attentively on the queens of a pack of cards, you
will easily discern the appropriate expressions of all these attributes
in the faces of the grotesque ladies therein depicted. The valets, or
attendants, whom we call knaves, are not necessarily 'rascals,' but
simply servants royal; at first they were knights, as appears from the
names of some of the famous French knights being formerly painted on the
cards.
Thus a pack of cards is truly a monument of the olden time--the days of
chivalry and its numberless associations.
In addition to the details I have given in the previous chapter
respecting the probability of holding certain cards, there are a few
other curious facts concerning them, which it may be interesting to
know.
There is a difference in the eyes of two of the knaves--those of
diamonds and hearts, more apparent in the old patterns, suggesting the
inference that they are blind. This has been made the basis of a card
trick, as to which two of the four knaves presenting themselves would be
selected as servants. Of course the blind ones would be rejected. A bet
is sometimes proposed to the unwary, at Whist, but one of the party will
have in his hand, after the deal, only one of a suit, or none of a suit.
The bet should not be taken, as this result very frequently happens.
Lastly, there is an arithmetical puzzle of the most startling effect
to be contrived with a pack of cards, as follows. Let a party make up
parcels of cards, beginning with a number of pips on any card, and then
counting up to twelve with individual cards. In the first part of the
trick it must be understood that the court cards count as ten, all
others according to the pips. Thus, a king put down will require only
two cards to make up 12, whereas the ace will require 11, and so on.
Now, when all the parcels are completed, the performer of the trick
requires to know only the number of parcels thus made, and the
remainder, if any, to declare after a momentary calculation, the exact
number of pips on the first cards laid down--to the astonishment of
those not in the secret. In fact, there is no possible arrangement of
the cards, according to this method, which can prevent an adept from
declaring the number of pips required, after being informed of the
number of parcels, and the remainder, if any. This startling performance
will be explained in a subsequent chapter--amusing card tricks.
Cards must soon have made their way among our countrymen, from the great
intercourse that subsisted between England and France about the time of
the first introduction of cards into the latter kingdom. If the din of
arms in the reign of our fifth Henry should seem unfavourable to the
imitation of an enemy's private diversions, it must be remembered
that France was at that period under the dominion of England, that
the English lived much in that country, and consequently joined in the
amusements of the private hour, as well as in the public dangers of the
field.
Very soon, however, the evil consequences of their introduction became
apparent. One would have thought that in such a tumultuous reign at home
as that of our sixth Henry, there could not have been so much use made
of cards as to have rendered them an object of public apprehension and
governmental solicitude; but a record appears in the beginning of the
reign of Edward IV., after the deposition of the unfortunate Henry, by
which playing cards, as well as dice, tennis-balls, and chessmen, were
forbidden to be imported.
If this tended to check their use for a time, the subsequent Spanish
connection with the court of England renewed an acquaintance with cards
and a love for them. The marriage of Prince Arthur with the Infanta
Catherine of Arragon, brought on an intimacy between the two nations,
which probably increased card-playing in England,--it being a diversion
to which the Spaniards were extremely addicted at that period.
Cards were certainly much in use, and all ideas concerning them very
familiar to the minds of the English, during the reign of Henry VIII.,
as may be inferred from a remarkable sermon of the good bishop Latimer.
This sermon was preached in St Edward's church, Cambridge, on the Sunday
before Christmas day, 1527, and in this discourse he may be said to have
'dealt' out an exposition of the precepts of Christianity according
to the terms of card-playing. 'Now ye have heard what is meant by this
"first card," and how you ought to "play" with it, I purpose again to
"deal" unto you "another card almost of the same suit," for they be of
so nigh affinity that one cannot be well "played" without the other,
&c.' 'It seems,' says Fuller, 'that he suited his sermon rather to the
TIME--being about Christmas, when cards were much used--than to
the text, which was the Baptist's question to our Lord--"Who art
thou?"--taking thereby occasion to conform his discourse to the "playing
at cards," making the "heart triumph."'
This blunt preaching was in those days admirably effectual, but it would
be considered ridiculous in ours--except from the lips of such original
geniuses as Mr Spurgeon, who hit upon this vein and made a fortune of
souls as well as money. He is, however, inimitable, and any attempt at
entering into his domain would probably have the same result as that
which attended an imitation of Latimer by a country minister, mentioned
by Fuller. 'I remember,' he says, 'in my time (about the middle of the
seventeenth century), a country minister preached at St Mary's, from
Rom. xii. 3,--"As God has DEALT to every man the measure of faith." In
a fond imitation of Latimer's sermon he followed up the metaphor
of DEALING,--that men should PLAY ABOVE-BOARD, that is, avoid all
dissembling,--should not POCKET CARDS, but improve their gifts and
graces,--should FOLLOW SUIT, that is, wear the surplice, &c.,--all which
produced nothing but laughter in the audience. Thus the same actions
by several persons at several times are made not the same actions, yea,
differenced from commendable discretion to ridiculous absurdity.
And thus he will make but bad music who hath the instruments and
fiddlesticks, but none of the "resin" of Latimer.'
The habit of card-playing must have been much confirmed and extended by
the marriage of Philip of Spain with our Queen Mary, whose numerous and
splendid retinue could not but bring with them that passionate love of
cards which prevailed in the Spanish court.
It seems also probable that the cards then used (whatever they might
have been before) were of Spanish form and figure, in compliment to the
imperious Philip; since even to this day the names of two Spanish suits
are retained on English cards, though without any reference to their
present figure. Thus, we call one suit spades, from the Spanish
espada, 'sword,' although we retain no similitude of the sword in the
figure,--and another clubs, in Spanish, bastos, but without regard to
the figure also.
Old Roger Ascham, the tutor of Queen Elizabeth, gives us a picture
of the gambling arts of his day, as follows:--How will they use these
shiftes when they get a plaine man that cannot skill of them! How they
will go about, if they perceive an honest man have moneye, which list
not playe, to provoke him to playe! They will seek his companye; they
will let him pay noughte, yea, and as I hearde a man once saye that he
did, they will send for him to some house, and spend perchaunce a crowne
on him, and, at last, will one begin to saye: "at, my masters, what shall
we do? Shall every man playe his twelve-pence while an apple roste in
the fire, and then we will drincke and departe?" "Naye" will another
saye (as false as he), "you cannot leave when you begin, and therefore I
will not playe: but if you will gage, that every man as he hath lost his
twelve-pence, shall sit downe, I am contente, for surelye I would Winne
no manne's moneye here, but even as much as woulde pay for my supper."
Then speaketh the thirde to the honeste man that thought not to
play:--"What? Will you play your twelve-pence?" If he excuse him--"Tush!
man!" will the other saye, "sticke not in honeste company for
twelve-pence; I will beare your halfe, and here is my moneye." Nowe all
this is to make him to beginne, for they knowe if he be once in, and be
a loser, that he will not sticke at his twelve-pence, but hopeth ever to
get it againe, whiles perhappes he will lose all. Then every one of them
setteth his shiftes abroache, some with false dyse, some with settling
of dyse, some with having outlandish silver coynes guilded, to put awaye
at a time for good golde. Then, if there come a thing in controversye,
must you be judged by the table, and then farewell the honeste man's
parte, for he is borne downe on every syde.'
It is evident from this graphic description of the process, that the
villany of sharpers has been ever the same; for old Roger's account
of the matter in his day exactly tallies with daily experience at the
present time.
The love of card-playing was continued through the reign of Elizabeth
and James I.,(60) and in the reign of the latter it had reached so high
a pitch that the audiences used to amuse themselves with cards at the
play-house, while they were waiting for the beginning of the play.
The same practice existed at Florence. If the thing be not done at
the present day, something analogous prevails in our railway carriages
throughout the kingdom. It is said that professed card-sharpers take
season-tickets on all the lines, and that a great DEAL of money is made
by the gentry by duping unwary travellers into a game or by betting.
(60) King James, the British Solomon, although he could not 'abide'
tobacco, and denounced it in a furious 'Counterblaste,' could not
'utterly condemn' play, or, as he calls it, 'fitting house-pastimes.'
'I will not,' he says, 'agree in forbidding cards, dice, and other like
games of Hazard,' and enters into an argument for his opinion, which
is scarcely worth quoting. See Basilicon Doron--a prodigy of royal
fatuity--but the perfect 'exponent' of the characteristics of the Stuart
royal race in England.
There is no reason to suppose that the fondness for this diversion
abated, except during the short 'trump or triumph of the fanatic
suit'--in the hard times of Old Oliver--when undoubtedly cards were
styled 'the devil's books.' But, indeed, by that time they had become an
engine of much fraud and destruction; so that one of the early acts of
Charles II.'s reign inflicted large penalties on those who should use
cards for fraudulent purposes.
'Primero was the fashionable game at the court of England during the
Tudor dynasty. Shakspeare represents Henry VIII. playing at it with the
Duke of Suffolk; and Falstaff says, "I never prospered since I forswore
myself at Primero." In the Earl of Northumberland's letters about the
Gunpowder-plot, it is noticed that Joscelin Percy was playing at this
game on Sunday, when his uncle, the conspirator, called on him at Essex
House. In the Sidney papers, there is an account of a desperate quarrel
between Lord Southampton, the patron of Shakspeare, and one Ambrose
Willoughby. Lord Southampton was then "Squire of the Body" to Queen
Elizabeth, and the quarrel was occasioned by Willoughby persisting to
play with Sir Walter Raleigh and another at Primero, in the Presence
Chamber, after the queen had retired to rest, a course of proceeding
which Southampton would not permit. Primero, originally a Spanish game,
is said to have been made fashionable in England by Philip of Spain,
after his marriage with Queen Mary.
Maw succeeded Primero as the fashionable game at the English court, and
was the favourite game of James I., who appears to have played at
cards, just as he played with affairs of state, in an indolent manner;
requiring in both cases some one to hold his cards, if not to prompt him
what to play. Weldon, alluding to the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury,
in his Court and Character of King James, says: 'The next that came on
the stage was Sir Thomas Monson, but the night before he was to come
to his trial, the king being at the game of Maw, said, "To-morrow comes
Thomas Monson to his trial." "Yea," said the king's card-holder, "where,
if he do not play his master's prize, your Majesty shall never trust
me." This so ran in the king's mind, that at the next game he said he
was sleepy, and would play out that set the next night.
'It is evident that Maw differed very slightly from Five Cards, the most
popular game in Ireland at the present day. As early as 1674 this game
was popular in Ireland, as we learn from Cotton's Compleat Gamester,
which says: "Five Cards is an Irish game, and is much played in that
kingdom for considerable sums of money, as All-fours is played in Kent,
and Post-and-pair in the west of England."
'Noddy was one of the old English court games. This has been supposed to
have been a children's game, and it was certainly nothing of the kind.
Its nature is thus fully described in a curious satirical poem, entitled
Batt upon Batt, published in 1694.
"Show me a man can turn up Noddy still, And deal himself three fives
too, when he will; Conclude with one-and-thirty, and a pair, Never fail
ten in Stock, and yet play fair, If Batt be not that wight, I lose my
aim."
'From these lines, there can be no doubt that the ancient Noddy was the
modern cribbage--the Nod of to-day, rejoicing in the name of Noddy, and
the modern Crib, being termed the Stock.
'Ombre was most probably introduced into this country by Catherine of
Portugal, the queen of Charles II.; Waller, the court poet, has a poem
on a card torn at Ombre by the queen. This royal lady also introduced to
the English court the reprehensible practice of playing cards on Sunday.
Pepys, in 1667, writes: "This evening, going to the queen's side to see
the ladies, I did find the queen, the Duchess of York, and another at
cards, with the room full of ladies and great men; which I was amazed
at to see on a Sunday, having not believed, but contrarily flatly denied
the same, a little while since, to my cousin."(61)
(61) Hombre, or rather El Hombre, or 'The Man,' was so named as
requiring thought and reflection, which are qualities peculiar to man;
or rather, alluding to him who undertakes to play the game against the
rest of the gamesters, emphatically called The Man. It requires very
great application to play it well: and let a man be ever so expert, he
will be apt to fall into mistakes if he thinks of anything else, or is
disturbed by the conversation of those that look on. It is a game of
three, with 40 cards, that is, rejecting the eights, nines, and tens of
all the suits.
'In a passage from Evelyn's Memoirs, the writer impressively describes
another Sunday-evening scene at Whitehall, a few days before the
death of Charles II., in which a profligate assemblage of courtiers is
represented as deeply engaged in the game of Basset. This was an Italian
game, brought by Cardinal Mazarin to France; Louis XIV. is said to have
lost large sums at it; and it was most likely brought to England by some
of the French ladies of the court. It did not stand its ground, however,
in this country; Ombre continuing the fashionable game in England, down
till after the expiration of the first quarter of the last century.
'Quadrille succeeded Ombre, but for a curious reason did not reign
so long as its predecessor. From the peculiar nature of Quadrille, an
unfair confederacy might be readily established, by any two persons, by
which the other players could be cheated.
'While the preceding games were in vogue the magnificent temple of
Whist, destined to outshine and overshadow them, was in course of
erection.
"Let India vaunt her children's vast address, Who first contrived the
warlike sport of Chess; Let nice Piquette the boast of France remain,
And studious Ombre be the pride of Spain; Invention's praise shall
England yield to none, When she can call delightful Whist her own."
'All great inventions and discoveries are works of time, and Whist is
no exception to the rule; it did not come into the world perfect at
all points, as Minerva emerged from the head of Jupiter. Nor were its
wonderful merits early recognized. Under the vulgar appellations of
Whisk and Swobbers, it long lingered in the servants'-hall ere it could
ascend to the drawing-room. At length, some gentlemen, who met at the
Crown coffee-house, in Bedford Row, studied the game, gave it rules,
established its principles, and then Edward Hoyle, in 1743, blazoned
forth its fame to all the world.
'Many attempts have been made, at various times, to turn playing-cards
to a very different use from that for which they were originally
intended. Thus, in 1518, a learned Franciscan friar, named Murner,
published a Logica Memorativa, a mode of teaching logic, by a pack of
cards; and, subsequently, he attempted to teach a summary of civil law
in the same manner. In 1656, an Englishman, named Jackson, published a
work, entitled the Scholar's Sciential Cards, in which he proposed to
teach reading, spelling, grammar, writing, and arithmetic, with various
arts and sciences, by playing-cards; premising that the learner was well
grounded in all the games played at the period. And later still, about
the close of the seventeenth century, there was published the Genteel
Housekeeper's Pastime; or the Mode of Carving at Table represented in a
Pack of Playing-Cards, by which any one of ordinary Capacity may learn
how to Carve, in Mode, all the most usual Dishes of Flesh, Fish, Fowl,
and Baked Meats, with the several Sauces and Garnishes proper to Every
Dish of Meat. In this system, flesh was represented by hearts, fish by
clubs, fowl by diamonds, and baked-meat by spades. The king of hearts
ruled a noble sirloin of roast-beef; the monarch of clubs presided over
a pickled herring; and the king of diamonds reared his battle-axe over
a turkey; while his brother of spades smiled benignantly on a well-baked
venison-pasty.
'The kind of advertisements, now called circulars, were often, formerly,
printed on the backs of playing-cards. Visiting-cards, too, were
improvised, by writing the name on the back of playing-cards. About
twenty years ago, when a house in Dean Street, Soho, was under repair,
several visiting-cards of this description were found behind a marble
chimney-piece, one of them bearing the name of Isaac Newton. Cards of
invitation were written in a similar manner. In the fourth picture, in
Hogarth's series of "Marriage a-la-Mode," several are seen lying on the
floor, upon one of which is inscribed: "Count Basset begs to no how Lade
Squander sleapt last nite." Hogarth, when he painted this inscription,
was most probably thinking of Mrs Centlivre's play, The Basset Table,
which a critic describes as containing a great deal of plot and
business, without much sentiment or delicacy.
'A curious and undoubtedly authentic historical anecdote is told of a
pack of cards. Towards the end of the persecuting reign of Queen Mary, a
commission was granted to a Dr Cole to go over to Ireland, and commence
a fiery crusade against the Protestants of that country. On coming to
Chester, on his way, the doctor was waited on by the mayor, to whom he
showed his commission, exclaiming, with premature triumph, "Here is what
shall lash the heretics of Ireland." Mrs Edmonds, the landlady of the
inn, having a brother in Dublin, was much disturbed by overhearing
these words; so, when the doctor accompanied the mayor downstairs, she
hastened into his room, opened his box, took out the commission, and put
a pack of cards in its place. When the doctor returned to his apartment,
he put the box into his portmanteau without suspicion, and the
next morning sailed for Dublin. On his arrival he waited on the
lord-lieutenant and privy council, to whom he made a speech on the
subject of his mission, and then presented the box to his Lordship; but
on opening it, there appeared only a pack of cards, with the knave of
clubs uppermost. The doctor was petrified, and assured the council that
he had had a commission, but what was become of it he could not tell.
The lord-lieutenant answered, "Let us have another commission, and, in
the mean while, we can shuffle the cards." Before the doctor could get
his commission renewed Queen Mary died, and thus the persecution was
prevented. We are further informed that, when Queen Elizabeth was made
acquainted with the circumstances, she settled a pension of L40 per
annum on Mrs Edmonds, for having saved her Protestant subjects in
Ireland.'(62)
(62) The Book of Days, Dec. 28.
All the pursuits of life, all the trades and occupations of men, have,
in all times, lent expressions to the languages of nations, and
those resulting from the propensity of GAMING are among those which
perpetually recur in daily conversation, and with the greatest emphasis.
Thus we have:--'He has played his cards well or ill,'--applied to the
management of fortune or one's interest; jacta est alea, 'the die is
cast,' as exclaimed Julius Caesar before crossing the Rubicon; 'he
has run his RACE--reached the GOAL' a turf adage applied to consummate
success or disastrous failure; 'a lucky throw or hit;' 'within an ACE,'
meaning one point of gaining a thing; 'he HAZARDS everything;' 'chances
are for and against;' 'he was PIQUED,' from the game of piquet, meaning,
angry at losing something; 'left in the lurch,' from the French game
l'Ourche, wherein on certain points happening the stake is to be paid
double, and meaning, 'under circumstances unexpected and peculiarly
unfavourable;' 'to save your bacon or gamon,' from the game
Back-gammon(63) a blot is hit,' from the same; 'checked in his career,'
that is, stopped in his designs from the game of chess.
(63) The etymology of the word Back-gamon has been disputed. Hyde seems
to have settled it. A certain portion of the hog is called in Italian
gambone, whence our English word gambon or gammon. Confounding things
that differ, many think that 'gamon' in the game has the same meaning,
and therefore they say--'he saved his gamon or bacon,' which is absurd,
although it is a proverbial phrase of sufficient emphasis. The word
Backgamon seems to be derived from the very nature of the game itself,
namely, back-game-on, that is, when one of your pieces is taken, you
must go back--begin again--and then game on--'Back-game-on'.
The fabrication of cards is a most important manufacture of France; and
Paris and Nancy are the two places where most cards are made. The annual
consumption of cards in France amounts to 1,500,000 francs, or L62,500;
but France also supplies foreigners with the article, especially the
Spanish, American, Portuguese, and English colonies, to the value of
1,000,000 francs, or L41,666. The government derives from this branch of
French industry not much less than L25,000 annual revenue, that is,
from 20 to 25 per cent. of the product. The duty on cards is secured and
enforced by severe penalties.
English cards are about a third larger than the French. The
double-headed cards are an English invention, and they are being adopted
by the French. Their advantage is obvious, in securing the secrecy of
the hand, for by observing a party in arranging his cards after the
deal, the act of turning up a card plainly shows that it must be at
least a face card, and the oftener this is done the stronger the hand,
in general. In Germany, a fourth face-card is sometimes added to the
pack, called the Knight, or Chevalier. The Italians have also in use
long cards, called tarots, which, however, must not be confounded with
the French cards called tarotees, with odd figures on them, and used by
fortune-tellers.
The method of making playing-cards seems to have given the first hint
to the invention of printing, as appears from the first specimens of
printing at Haerlem, and those in the Bodleian Library.
'The manufacture of playing-cards comprises many interesting processes.
The cardboard employed for this purpose is formed of several thicknesses
of paper pasted together; there are usually four such thicknesses; and
the paper is so selected as to take paste, paint, and polish equally
well. The sheets of paper are pasted with a brush, and are united by
successive processes of cold-drying, hot-drying, and hydraulic pressure.
Each sheet is large enough for forty cards. The outer surfaces of the
outer sheets are prepared with a kind of flinty coating, which gives
sharpness to the outline of the various coloured devices. Most packs of
cards are now made with coloured backs. The ground-tint is laid on with
a brush, and consists of dis-temper colour, or pigments mixed with warm
melted size. The device impressed on this ground-tint is often very
beautiful. Messrs De la Rue, the leading firm in the manufacture,
employ tasteful artists, and invest a large amount of capital in the
introduction of new patterns. On cards sold at moderate prices, the
colours at the back are generally two--one for the ground, and one for
the device; but some of the choicer specimens display several colours;
and many of the designs are due to the pencil of Mr Owen Jones. The
printing of the design is done on the sheets of paper, before
the pasting to form cardboard. The pips or spots on the faces of
playing-cards are now spades, clubs, hearts, and diamonds; but at
different times, and in different countries, there have been leaves,
acorns, bells, cups, swords, fruit, heads, parasols, and other objects
similarly represented. In English cards the colours are red and black;
Messrs De la Rue once introduced red, black, green, and blue for the
four suits; but the novelty was not encouraged by card-players. The same
makers have also endeavoured to supersede the clumsy devices of kings,
queens, and knaves, by something more artistic; but this, too, failed
commercially; for the old patterns, like the old willow-pattern
dinner-plates, are still preferred--simply because the users have become
accustomed to them. Until within the last few years the printing of
cards was generally done by stencilling, the colour being applied
through perforated devices in a stencil-plate. The colour employed for
this purpose is mixed up with a kind of paste. When there is a device
at the back, the outline of the device is printed from an engraved
wood-block, and the rest filled in by stencilling. The stencilling of
the front and back can be done either before or after the pasting of the
sheets into cardboard. One great improvement in the manufacture has been
the substitution of oil colour for paste or size colour; and another,
the substitution of printing for stencilling. Messrs De la Rue have
expended large sums of money on these novelties; for many experiments
had to be made, to determine how best to employ oil colour so that the
spots or pips may be equal-tinted, the outline clear and sharp, the
pigment well adherent to the surface, and the drying such as to admit
of polishing without stickiness. The plates for printing are engraved
on copper or brass, or are produced by electrotype, or are built up with
small pieces of metal or interlaced wire. The printing is done in the
usual way of colour-printing, with as many plates as there are colours
(usually five), and one for the outlines; it is executed on the sheets
of paper, before being pasted into cardboard. When the printing, drying,
and pasting are all completed, a careful polish is effected by means of
brush-wheels, pasteboard wheels, heated plates, and heated rollers;
in such a way that the polish on the back may differ from that on the
face--since it is found that too equally polished surfaces do not slide
quite so readily over each other. Formerly, every pack of cards made in
England for home use paid a duty of one shilling, which duty was levied
on the ace of spades.
The maker engraved a plate for twenty aces of spades; the printing was
done by the government at Somerset House, and L1 was paid by the maker
for every sheet of aces so printed. The law is now altered. Card sellers
pay an annual license of 2s. 6d., and to each pack of cards is affixed a
three-pence stamp, across which the seller must write or stamp his name,
under a penalty of L5 for the omission.
The cardboard, when all the printing is finished, is cut up into
cards; every card is minutely examined, and placed among the 'Moguls,'
'Harrys,' or 'Highlanders,' as they are technically called, according to
the degree in which they may be faultless or slightly specked; and the
cards are finally made up into packs.'(64)
(64) Chambers's Cyclopaedia.
Machinery has been called into requisition in card-playing. In 1815 a
case was tried in which part of the debt claimed was for an instrument
to cut cards so as to give an unfair advantage to the person using it.
The alleged debtor had been most fortunate in play, winning at one time
L11,000 from an officer in India. For an exactly opposite reason another
machine was used in 1818 by the Bennet Street Club. It consisted of
a box curiously constructed for dealing cards, and was invented by an
American officer.
Another curious fact relating to cards is the duty derived from them.
In the year 1775 the number of packs stamped was 167,000, amounting to
between L3000 and L4000 duty. Lord North put on another sixpence. Of
course, a vast number of packs were smuggled in, paying no duty, as in
the case of tobacco, in all times since its fiscal regulations. In the
time of Pitt, 1789, L9000 were to be raised by an additional duty of
sixpence on cards and dice, consequently there must have been no less
than 360,000 packs of cards and pairs of dice stamped in the year 1788,
to justify the calculation--a proof that gaming in England was not on
the decline. In the year 1790, the duty on cards was two shillings per
pack, and on dice thirteen shillings per pair.
This duty on cards went on increasing its annual addition to the
revenue, so that about the year 1820 the monthly payments of Mr Hunt
alone, the card-maker of Picadilly, for the stamp-duty on cards, varied
from L800 to L1000, that is, from L9600 to L12,000 per annum. In 1833
the stamp-duty on cards was 6d., and it yielded L15,922, showing a
consumption of 640,000 packs per annum. Much of this, however, was sheer
waste, on account of the rule of gamesters requiring a fresh pack at
every game.
In the Harleian Miscellany(65) will be found a satirical poem entitled
'The Royal Gamesters; or, the Odd Cards new shuffled for a Conquering
Game,' referring to the political events of the years from 1702 to 1706,
and concluding with the following lines--
'Thus ends the game which Europe has in view, Which, by the stars, may
happen to be true.'
(65) Vol. i. p. 177.
In vol. iv. of the same work there is another poem of the kind, entitled
'The State Gamesters; or, the Old Cards new packed and shuffled,' which
characteristically concludes as follows--
'But we this resolution have laid down--Never to play so high as for a
Crown.'
Finally, as to allusions to gaming, the reader may remember the famous
sarcasm of the late Earl of Derby (as Lord Stanley) some thirty years
ago, comparing the Government to Thimble-riggers in operation.